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5 <br /> Majhpee Centennial C eUration <br /> ittly 25 and 26, 1970 <br /> SUBJECT: Commemorating one hundred years of Self-Gov- <br /> ernment <br /> Presentation of permanent historical attrac- <br /> tions <br /> SUBMITTED BY: Amelia G. Bingham— <br /> Chairman of the Centennial Com. <br /> Also: Chairman"of Mashpee Historic Com. <br /> (A native Wampanoag descendant) <br /> The Town of Mashpee is extremely significant in its <br /> fascinating ethnic and sociological mixture at the present <br /> time. The gene pool presently carries red, white and negro <br /> strains which has produced a remarkable heterogeneous <br /> group with marked characteristics of their own. This com- <br /> munity represents in microcosm what would happen if the <br /> presently estranged racial sparks of America would bury <br /> their differences and prejudices, and truly "desegregate". <br /> It is our proposal in connection with the Centennial <br /> Celebration, of the Institution of Self-Government in the w <br /> Town of Mashpee to bring to the attention of the American <br /> people, both past injustices and present dangers residing in <br /> what amounts to the expropriation of Mashpee Lands. i <br /> Mashpee was originally a Wampanoag Indian Commun- <br /> ity of perhaps 4,000 souls. From the middle of the 17th cen- <br /> tury the area was served under various names such as, I <br /> "Marshpee Plantation" or "Marshpee District", as a reserva- <br /> tion. In the course of time Hessian prisoners of war (Revolu- <br /> tionary), runaway negroes from the south and other for7 <br /> eigners were relegated to this reservation with the sanction <br /> Of the governing bodies of the Commonwealth of Massachu- <br /> setts. Most of the adult male population was killed during <br /> the American Revolutionary War, leaving many families to <br /> be supported. By relegating these men to the plantation, the I <br /> State hoped to b.e free of the responsibility of supporting <br /> these Indians. <br /> i <br />